The United States government introduced a bill aiming to demolish the ad businesses of technology firms in the industry. The AMERICA Act could create an impact on advertising technology, which is considered the financial backbone of the internet.
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WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 23: (L-R) Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) talks to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) as U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, March 23, 2022 in Washington, DC.
Passing AMERICA Act
A bipartisan group of senators introduced the Advertising Middlemen Endangering Rigorous Internet Competition Accountability (AMERICA) Act, which aims to break up the ad businesses of tech giants like Google and Meta. Gizmodo reported that this bill was introduced by Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah.
This bill would prohibit tech companies from obtaining several portions of the ecosystem of digital advertising once they processed more than $20 billion in transactions. Looking at these digits, it would affect companies like Google and Meta, as they are the biggest players in digital advertising, with Apple and Amazon might also have to take the bill into account.
Companies that are medium-sized or larger would also have to make the best execution for ad bids. Transparency and integrity are needed for companies when it comes to technical capabilities and data. Businesses would have to establish firewalls to minimize abuse and conflicts of interest when running businesses on two sides of the market.
Bipartisan List
Along with Lee, Engadget reported that the bipartisan senators supporting this bill united and got along despite having different political views, which included Democrat Senators Amy Klobuchar, Richard Blumenthal, and Elizabeth Warren, and Republican Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Eric Schmitt, Josh Hawley, John Kennedy, Lindsey Graham, and J.D. Vance.
Senator Lee stated that Google and Facebook have been exploiting their system in a distinctive manner in order to obtain "vice grip-like control" in digital advertising. Through this process, companies will have power on every side of the market and will be able to block competition and abuse their customers.
He added an example of a real-life scenario in that one Google employee described the company's business as being like if Goldman or Citibank owned the whole New York Stock Exchange. Through a fact sheet, Lee stated that Google and Facebook will be required to divest significant portions of their businesses once the bill is enacted into law.
Also Read: Meta to Ban Gender-Based Teen Ads on Facebook, Instagram
As per the senators' press release, The AMERICA Act was introduced by the senator as online advertising became a broken system that has been the driver of growth for companies that have failed the government in many ways, including privacy issues, speech censorship, and exploitation of children.
He believed that this is a move against Big Tech monopolists, which is the first step in providing a safer space on the internet in the digital age of the 21st-century economy.
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